After 'Jewish Taliban' Leader’s Drowning, Young Boy Tells of Abuse: 'This Is Hell'
Boy, 14, tells of men in Lev Tahor cult, now in Mexico, who ‘undressed me and beat me and kicked me many times. And did bad things to me many times.’
Allison Kaplan Sommer Jul 12, 2017

In the aftermath of the drowning of Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, leader of the “Jewish Taliban” cult Lev Tahor in Mexico, the ultra-Orthodox press in Israel has been rife with reports regarding the location of his funeral and burial, and speculation as to which member of the cult will succeed him as leader of the reclusive group of 40 families believed to be in a remote southern part of Mexico, weeks after fleeing Guatemala, where they had lived for three years.

One ultra-Orthodox website, Kikar HaShabbat, published a short but disturbing video account of life inside the cult recorded in stealth by a 14-year-old member, describing severe abuse at the hands of men in Lev Tahor.

The blurred video showed only the boy’s hat, chest and sidecurls as he gives his testimony from a bowed position in halting Yiddish. The website bleeped the names of the Lev Tahor members he named.

“I’ve lived in Lev Tahor for 12 and a half years and I want to tell you everything,” the boy says. “I’ve been living in this hell that everyone claims is made up and untrue – it is true. I want to tell you about the things that are happening in Lev Tahor.

“I wrote down on a piece of paper all of the things I want to talk about,” he continues. “Bad things are happening here. First, I want to tell about XXXX. He is a bad teacher. He does bad things to children. He hits children, kicks them and does other bad things.”

The boy continues to charge that another member of the group “killed a baby and another man. He hits and kicks all of the children.” He added that the men he named “undressed me and beat me and kicked me many times. And did bad things to me many times. At first, I thought they were good Jews. But then I saw they were bad people.”

Another ultra-Orthodox website, B’Hadrei Haredim, published an interview with a Philadelphia rabbi who said he was in touch with two Lev Tahor members in Mexico. He denied there was abuse in the cult, saying only that they had a “strict regime.” The rabbi told the story of Helbrans’ death, saying that on Friday he was at a river and slipped, hit his head on a rock, was carried away by the current and lost consciousness, and that attempts by his followers to rescue him had been unsuccessful....

The group, the rabbi said, had only crossed the border to Mexico three weeks ago, after three years of living in multiple locations in Guatemala. They left, he said, because they feared apprehension by Israeli authorities. Families of Lev Tahor members have been pressuring the Israeli government for years to assist them in repatriating their relatives, claiming they are being drugged and abused, and that underage girls were regularly married off to older men. The group fled Canada three years ago, after authorities there investigated allegations that Lev Tahor was physically and sexually abusing children, and removed some of them from their homes....
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.801059

Prince's Trust apologise for Aust child abuseThursday, 13 July 2017
The chief executive of a youth charity set up by Prince Charles has told a UK inquiry she is 'deeply sorry' for the sexual abuse of child migrants sent to Australian farm schools.

Dame Martina Milburn told the inquiry that the Prince's Trust had in 2012 absorbed the Fairbridge Society - a former child migrant charity at the centre of multiple accusations of historic child sexual abuse.

The UK's Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse is examining the abuse of child migrants sent from the UK to Australia from the 1940s to 1970 into the care of church and charity groups.

26 people in custody after child abuse, exploitation investigation
by Hannah VogelMonday, July 10th 2017

Officials said since last Thursday, police took 26 people into custody for their involvement in child abuse and exploitation over the internet.

BENTON COUNTY, Wash. – Police told Action News they took 26 people into custody since last Thursday for their involvement in child abuse and exploitation over the internet.

Authorities said the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Washington State Patrol, local and county agencies helped through the investigation....

Officials said 26 suspects are now in custody after a major five-day child sex sting.
"The hard part of this job is not dealing with predators but seeing the devastation they actually do to children," said Mjor.
45 law enforcement officials went undercover, posing as predators, children and even parents.

Officials went on common sites like Craigslist and Backpage, responded to ads of underage children for sex and made some of their own ads to entice predators.
Officials told Action News over 100 people responded.
Authorities said over two dozen traveled to meet who they thought were children for sex, but those kids turned out to be cops.